"I just can't believe it. And what sport will then be added to the Olympic program? What sport is worthy of replacing ours?" Baroev told the ITAR-Tass news agency. "Wrestling is popular in many countries — just see how the medals were distributed at the last Olympics."

American Rulan Gardner, who upset three-time Russian Olympic champion Alexander Karelin at the Sydney Games in an epic gold-medal bout known as the "Miracle on the Mat," was saddened by the decision to drop what he called "a beloved sport."

"It's the IOC trying to change the Olympics to make it more mainstream and more viewer-friendly instead of sticking to what they founded the Olympics on," Gardner told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Logan, Utah.

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee reviewed the 26 sports on its summer program in order to remove one of them so it could add one later this year. It decided to cut wrestling and keep modern pentathlon — a sport that combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting — and was considered to be the most likely to be dropped.

The board voted after reviewing a report by the IOC program commission report that analyzed 39 criteria, including TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It's not a case of what's wrong with wrestling; it is what's right with the 25 core sports."

According to IOC documents obtained by the AP, wrestling ranked "low" in several of the technical criteria, including popularity with the public at the London Games — just below 5 on a scale of 10. Wrestling sold 113,851 tickets in London out of 116,854 available.

Wrestling also ranked "low" in global TV audience with a maximum of 58.5 million viewers and an average of 23 million, the documents show. Internet hits and press coverage were also ranked as low.

The IOC also noted that FILA — the international wrestling federation — has no athletes on its decision-making bodies, no women's commission, no ethics rules for technical officials and no medical official on its executive board.

Modern pentathlon also ranked low in general popularity in London, with 5.2 out of 10. The sport also ranked low in all TV categories, with maximum viewership of 33.5 million and an average of 12.5 million.

FILA has 177 member nations, compared to 108 for modern pentathlon.

Modern pentathlon, which has been on the Olympic program since the 1912 Stockholm Games, was created by French baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement.

It also benefited from the work of Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former IOC president who is a UIPM vice president and member of the IOC board.

"We were considered weak in some of the scores in the program commission report but strong in others," Samaranch told the AP. "We played our cards to the best of our ability and stressed the positives."

Klaus Schormann, president of governing body UIPM, lobbied hard to protect his sport's Olympic status and it paid off in the end.

"We have promised things and we have delivered," he said after Tuesday's decision. "That gives me a great feeling. It also gives me new energy to develop our sport further and never give up."

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC session, or general assembly, in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for 2020, but it is extremely unlikely that it would be voted back in so soon after being removed by the executive board.

The other sports vying for a single opening in 2020 are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu, a martial art.

"Today's decision is not final," Adams said. "The session is sovereign and the session will make the final decision."

Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year's London Olympics, with Russia dominating the podium but Iran and Azerbaijan making strong showings. Women's wrestling was added to the Olympics at the 2004 Athens Games.

today's decision came via secret ballot over four rounds, with 14 members voting each time on which sport should not be included in the core group. IOC President Jacques Rogge did not vote.

Three sports were left in the final round: wrestling, field hockey and modern pentathlon. Eight members voted against wrestling and three each against the other two sports. Taekwondo and canoe kayaking survived the previous rounds.

"I was shocked," said IOC board member Rene Fasel of Switzerland.

"It was an extremely difficult decision to take," added IOC Vice President Thomas Bach of Germany. "The motivation of every member is never based on a single reason. There are always several reasons. It was a secret vote. There will always be criticism, but I think the great majority will understand that we took a decision based on facts and for the modernization of the Olympic Games."

Wrestling was featured in the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Along with Russia's Karelin, it has produced such American stars as Gardner, Bruce Baumgartner, Jeff Blatnick and Jordan Burroughs.

U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun also expressed surprise at the IOC decision, citing "the history and tradition of wrestling, and its popularity and universality."

"It is important to remember that today's action is a recommendation, and we hope that there will be a meaningful opportunity to discuss the important role that wrestling plays in the sports landscape both in the United States and around the world," Blackmun said in a statement. "In the meantime, we will fully support USA Wrestling and its athletes."

FILA said in a statement that it was "greatly astonished" by the decision, adding that the federation "will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC executive board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games."

It said it has always complied with IOC regulations and is represented in 180 countries, with wrestling the national sport in some of them.

The federation, which is headed by Raphael Martinetti and based in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, said it would meet next week in Thailand to discuss the matter.

Gardner cited wrestling's worldwide popularity and urged a campaign to keep it in the Olympics.

"It just seems like wrestling — if we don't fight, we're going to die," he said. "At this point, it's time for everybody to man up and support the program."

The decision hit hard in Russia, which has long been a power in the sport.

Mikhail Mamiashvili, president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, suggested FILA had not done enough to keep the sport in the games.

"We want to hear what was done to prevent this issue from even being discussed at the board," he said on the Rossiya TV channel.

In comments carried by ITAR-Tass, Mamiashvili added: "I can say for sure that the roots of this problem is at the FILA. I believe that Martinetti's task was to work hard, socialize and defend wrestling's place before the IOC."

Alexander Leipold, a 2000 Olympic champion from Germany and former freestyle German team coach, said he was shocked.

"We are a technical, tactical martial sport where the aim is not to harm the opponent," he said. "Competing at the Olympics is the greatest for an athlete."

Wrestling's long history in the Olympics has featured some legendary names and moments:

— Karelin won the super-heavyweight gold in Greco-Roman over three straight Olympics — 1988, 1992 and 1996 — until his streak was ended by Gardner, who beat him for the gold in 2000.

— Baumgartner won four Olympic medals, including golds in 1984 and 1992.

— Blatnick overcame cancer to win gold in Greco-Roman at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, bursting into tears after the match. Blatnick died last year at age 55.

— Burroughs emerged as the star of the sport in London, where he won the 74-kilogram gold.

The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio.

Among those in Lausanne were the leaders of the recently created World Baseball Softball Confederation. The two sports agreed last year to merge in a joint bid to return to the games.

Don Porter, the American who heads international softball, and Riccardo Fraccari, the Italian who leads baseball, are working out the final details of their unified body ahead of their presentation to the IOC in May.

A major hurdle remains the lack of a commitment from Major League Baseball to release top players for the Olympics.

Porter and Fraccari said they hope to have another meeting with MLB officials in April in Tokyo.

"The next thing is to sit down with them and see how they can help us," Porter said. "It all depends on the timing, the timing of the season. It's not an easy decision to allow players a week off."

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Sandmandoo42wrote:

If the Olympics has room for synchronized diving, synchronized swimming, and rhythmic gymnastics but not for wrestling, I cannot take the event seriously. Too bad, because ever since I was a child, I looked forward to the summer Olympics every four years. But the IOC keeps adding new "sports" that have no interest to me and eliminating other sports, even one like wrestling that dates back to the beginning of the games.

on February 12,2013 | 03:57AM

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OldDiverwrote:

The IOC is letting it be known that TV ratings rule. If the public wanted to see mud wrestling then it will be added.

on February 12,2013 | 07:49AM

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Dimbulbwrote:

Looks like the Olympics is going to less physical sports. A good example is Curling. I would guess the wrestling will be replaced by watching paint dry.

on February 12,2013 | 05:03AM

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MolokaiChuckwrote:

Mistake for sure

on February 12,2013 | 05:09AM

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loquaciousonewrote:

What the heck is wushu?

on February 12,2013 | 05:44AM

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Maneki_Nekowrote:

It's a tasty kind of pork. I imagine there will be a contest to see how much wushu a person, or team, can eat within a defined time. Freestyle wushu will not require the use of chopsticks. Rhythmic wushu will be accompanied by music.

on February 12,2013 | 07:29AM

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OldDiverwrote:

Now that is funny.

on February 12,2013 | 07:45AM

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Kalaheo1wrote:

Nicely done.

on February 12,2013 | 08:30AM

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eastside808wrote:

Wrestling was one of the original Olympic events. Say it aint so IOC. Complying to demands of smaller, lesser sports and which a very small minority have access to is not the aim of the Olympics is it?

on February 12,2013 | 06:15AM

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slinkwrote:

I'm not a big wrestling fan, but to drop one of the original Olympic sports seems like the IOC is going after the in-style "sports" and trying to become another X-games, but with credibility. Why not get rid of biking? One less specially designed venue would save money and who really wants to watch slow motion racing? Nothing personally against biking, but it's less about the individual strengths of the athlete and more about the equipment they possess - at least at the elite level. Pretty soon, they'll include cage fighting.....Let's try to remember that this is the OLYMPICS! There are other outlets for those other "sports" but let's not ruin THE GAMES!

on February 12,2013 | 06:25AM

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9ronbozwrote:

A sad day to say the least.

on February 12,2013 | 06:32AM

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alfhawaiiwrote:

no wonder no one pays attention to the olympic anymore except to watch the gymnasts.

on February 12,2013 | 06:46AM

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Maneki_Nekowrote:

Or, as Neil calls them, "those tall girls."

on February 12,2013 | 07:39AM

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loquaciousonewrote:

That is low...

on February 12,2013 | 11:14AM

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Maneki_Nekowrote:

That was a short comment.

on February 12,2013 | 11:16AM

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loquaciousonewrote:

Okay make it brief then.

on February 12,2013 | 11:47AM

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TheKagawaswrote:

My list of sports that should have been dropped before wrestling: Field Hockey, Golf, Pentathalon, and Sailing. Also, I'd classify all the "volley" sports Tennis, Volleyball, Badmitton, and Table Tennis into one category. That would make space for a couple of sports I'd add: Baseball and MMA.

on February 12,2013 | 06:54AM

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Anonymouswrote:

My candidate for elimination would by rhythmic gymnastics. And, if I had to choose, I'd eliminate boxing before wrestling

on February 12,2013 | 07:00AM

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Maneki_Nekowrote:

Ladies' shot put can go, too.

on February 12,2013 | 07:30AM

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OldDiverwrote:

That would be discrimination against women shot putters. All twelve of them.

on February 12,2013 | 07:46AM

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primo1wrote:

Equestrian events can go...

on February 12,2013 | 07:44AM

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loquaciousonewrote:

Keep the horses but dump the riders.

on February 12,2013 | 11:14AM

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CriticalReaderwrote:

Modern Pentathalon "combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting." Aren't those all stand alone sports 60% of which no one cares about already? They think watching a fencer swim, or a horse rider shoot, or a shooter fence is a demonstration of athletic skill? 2020 will be known as the "Sissy Olympics".

on February 12,2013 | 07:46AM

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krushawrote:

They should just make a mixed martial arts category and combine wrestling, tae kwon do, karate, and wu shu. I bet that would draw a lot of interest.

on February 12,2013 | 08:12AM

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CriticalReaderwrote:

An incredibly un-intelligent comment.

on February 12,2013 | 08:30AM

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primo1wrote:

Agreed.

on February 12,2013 | 10:02AM

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krushawrote:

They should just make a mixed martial arts category and combine wrestling, tae kwon do, karate, boxing, and wu shu. I bet that would draw a lot of interest.

on February 12,2013 | 08:13AM

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CriticalReaderwrote:

Another one.

on February 12,2013 | 08:30AM

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primo1wrote:

Agreed.

on February 12,2013 | 10:02AM

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Kalaheo1wrote:

I would cut sport that relies on "style points." I want to see who is the fastest, strongest, and has the smartest strategy. Any time you introduce "style points" you introduce corruption and bias. (I'm looking at you too "pro" surfing!)

on February 12,2013 | 08:33AM

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Maneki_Nekowrote:

I've got doubts about golf, too. I love the game but watching it played by someone else is torture. Maybe the judging will be by clothing style points.

on February 12,2013 | 08:37AM

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primo1wrote:

Agreed. If the IOC is serious about reducing clutter, then perhaps they should look at eliminating events that are "judged" instead of "officiated". Of course that list would include popular events such as gymnastics, boxing and diving, but so be it. If the outcome is determined by a bunch of suits instead of on the field of play, get rid of it.

on February 12,2013 | 10:15AM

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Maneki_Nekowrote:

I could support a push for buck nekkid female mud wrestling.

on February 12,2013 | 11:17AM

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bsdetectionwrote:

In addition to eliminating "sports" with style points, eliminate anything that involves music or wearing makeup, sequins or costumes.

on February 12,2013 | 12:42PM

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lowtone123wrote:

Wrestling goes back to the very origins of the olympic games themselves. This is wrong.

on February 12,2013 | 08:50AM

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jlchingwrote:

The IOC should be subjected to the anti-doping policy!

on February 12,2013 | 10:18AM

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loquaciousonewrote:

They should get rid of the marathon. It has no connection to the origin of the Olympics. Who wants to watch a bunch of skinny anorexics run 26.2 miles without breaking a sweat?